Shepherd's Pie

As much as I love warm summer days, I'm more in love with warm comforting winter foods. The kind of foods that bubble away in the oven and make the whole house smell good.
Of course in the summer these foods are way too rich and make the house incredibly warm, so I have to obstain.
However I was recently treated to a perfect cool, preview of Fall kind of day and my sister requested Shepherd's Pie. I jumped at the opportunity, Shepherd's Pie is the epitome of comfort deliciousness, cheesy and smothered in mashed potatoes. It's also the most delicious leftovers.

My recipe is a variation of Gordon Ramsay's. My mashed potatoes are pretty basic, but you can make them the way you prefer them.

Shepherd's Pie
2lbs ground hamburger
1 small can tomato paste
2-3 cups of beef broth
1 packet beef stew seasoning
several splashes of worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 bag of frozen corn (or vegetable of your choice)
2.5 lbs of russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
milk
2 tablespoons butter/margarine
salt/pepper
olive oil

Brown hamburger, breaking it up into small pieces and drain.

Heat a few splashes of olive oil in a pan and add the onion and cook for a few minutes until soft.

Add the hamburger, tomato paste, beef broth, seasoning packet, and worcestershire sauce, stir, cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until thick.

Boil the potatoes until fork tender, and drain.

Mash them together with butter/margarine and enough milk to make it smooth. Season with salt/pepper.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Add corn to the filling once it's finished cooking.
Pour the filling into a 13x9 glass.

Cover with the mashed potatoes. Then cover with cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted and the filling is bubbling (10-15 minutes).

Serve a generous portion with a big slice of crusty bread.

Salmon Patties

While my family doesn't like much seafood, they do like salmon.
Excited that my family members liked something new, I overzealously purchased large chunks of salmon several weeks in a row. They finally told me they were sick of it, but it was one 3lb piece of salmon too late.

Not wanting to waste $20 of quickly spoiling product, I decided to try to make a slightly fancier version of dish my grandma makes. I didn't change much, just substituting olive oil for crisco, using fresh salmon instead of canned, and sauteeing onions before adding them., I kept the Saltines though, partially because I had them on hand, but mostly because I wanted bigger chunks than I would get in breadcrumbs.

Cooking the salmon ahead of time (makes sure you do it the same day though), makes the cooking time on these super low.

Salmon Patties
1lb piece of Salmon (you could just as easily use canned though)
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 eggs
1 sleeve of Saltine crackers
salt/pepper

Roast the piece of salmon on a baking sheet (sprayed with nonstick spray) at 400 degrees until cooked through (10-20 minutes). Let cool.

Saute onions in a pan, in a tablespoon of butter/oil.

Flake the salmon.

Crush Saltines to desired texture. Add onions and Saltines to the salmon.
In a separate dish, whisk eggs. Add them to the salmon and combine everything gently.

Divide salmon mixture into hockey puck sized portions. Press them to hold their shape.

Place on a tray and let set in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Fill a saute pan with enough oil to completely cover the bottom, and place on a medium heat.

Once the oil is hot, fry small batches of the patties, flipping when the bottoms are golden and crisp.

Serve with whatever you want!

Poached Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce (Shakshuka)

In my effort to look into more savory and healthier recipes, I've been thinking a lot about alternatives to meat.
I tried this recipe a few months ago and liked it, but it wasn't filling enough for me. This time I added lentils and it was perfect.

I also modified the recipe to scale it down a little so that it was just enough for two people, since it doesn't really work as leftovers, and I blended the sauce up, because chunks of cooked tomatoes just weird me out. Feel free to leave it unblended.

Poached Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce (Shakshuka)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 14 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
4 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving

Saute the onions and garlic in oil till the onions are translucent. Add jalapeños and tomatoes and let simmer till thick, about 7-10 minutes. Add the paprika and cumin, and season with salt and pepper.

(I blend it at this point.) Carefully add the eggs, don't crowd them. Then cover the pan, let simmer till the yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

Serve over lentils (prepared basically by the recipe on the back of the bag) with toasted pitas and lots of crumbled feta cheese on top.

Everyday Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake is happiness.

I'm not a "chocoholic" by any means, my chocolate Halloween candy was often traded away, but I love chocolate cake.

Perhaps I should clarify enough farther, I love simple chocolate cake, with a little vanilla frosting or some whipped cream and raspberry sauce. No "death by chocolate" for me.

So when Felicia Day retweeted this recipe by Smitten Kitchen, I knew I had to try it.

I had everything it called for except buttermilk. No buttermilk, is not a reason to stress though, in fact, unless you use it regularly I wouldn't recommend ever buying it. They only seem to sell it in really large containers and I never need more than a cup.
Instead use this simple buttermilk substitute. It worked great.

Everyday Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter/flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

With an electric mixer, combine the sugars and butter until creamed.

Add the egg. Mix.

Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Mix. (Don't worry that it doesn't combine completely).

Sift in all the dry ingredients.

Mix with a spoon until combined, but try not to over mix.

Pour into loaf pan.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool, cut and enjoy. (Perhaps with some marscarpone and berries.)

Pretzel Heaven

Please, please don't disregard this recipe because of the multiple steps!
These pretzels were fabulous and a total crowd pleaser.


Yes, you have to let the dough rise and briefly boil them. However, when you pull these pieces of golden dough-y joy out of the oven and present them to your family/friends, I promise it will be totally worth it.

Another unnecessary worry I'd like to address: yeast. My mother is afraid of using yeast. It's totally crazy. Yeast takes care of itself. Add it to the dough, cover it, and go watch a movie.

The pretzels tasted most like Auntie Anne's (the pretzel stand in malls). The original recipe is here.

Soft Pretzels

3 1/4 cups flour
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups tepid water
1 tsp instant yeast
2 1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup baking soda for boiling (note: you needn’t double this amount for a double recipe)
Pretzel salt (I used kosher, but it wasn't large enough, it all dissolved)

Mix together the flour and butter in a large bowl. Add the water and combine until it forms dough (it'll be a little sticky). Add the yeast to one side of the dough and the salt to the other. Work them into the dough.

Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Place it in a oiled bowl (spraying it with non-stick spray is good enough) and cover it. Leave it somewhere safe for an hour.

The dough won't double in size like bread, but it should rise a little. Now remove it and place it on a floured surface. Cut into 8 pieces, roll into 8 balls, cover and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Muster up all your childhood Play-Doh rolling skills and roll the balls of dough out into 18 inch strips (or snakes!) I think it's easier to show you a picture of the pretzel motions rather than describe them.

Now let the pretzels rest on an oiled tray in the fridge for 2-24 hours (so you could do all those steps the day before if you wanted).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Fill a big pot up with water and heat it to a boil. Carefully add the baking soda and reduce the heat to a simmer.

Add the pretzels one at a time (they'll sink and gradually float up). Let them cook on each side for 20 seconds. Then set them back of the tray and let them drain.

Once all the pretzels are boiled, place on a greased baking sheet, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with pretzel salt.

Bake for 35 minutes or until brown.